In 1946, an International Military Tribunal declared Franz von Papen not guilty of crimes against peace for his involvement in Germany's National Socialist (Nazi) Party government during its proclaimed Third Reich from 1933 to 1945. But Papen played a vital role prior to 1933 as one of the leading conservative politicians who schemed to let Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party seize power. Born October 29, 1879, in the Westphalia region, Papen came from a landowning Roman Catholic family with a minor aristocratic title. As a young man, he became an officer in the army of the Kaiser and served as the German military attach‚ in Washington at the onset of World War I. He was recalled, however,for participating in sabotage activities there. After postings in Turkey and Palestine, Papen resigned his commission from the army following the humiliating terms of the Versailles Treaty that concluded the war, which imposed harsh penalties...